


we're burning down the bridges this time

by Valkyrees



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, cat grant is just a badass, fluff mostly, kara's a photographer, lena's a reporter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-23 19:24:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17689379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valkyrees/pseuds/Valkyrees
Summary: Lena's not like afanfan of Kara Danvers or anything, but Karadidwork with TRAFFIC to help break the story that brought down Hydra. And then she didn't even make a big deal out of it -- said, "all I did was snap photos", respectfully turned down an interview with Cat Grant, and blushed on live Instagram when she saw Cat had branded herSupergirlfor all her efforts.So, maybe Lena has a very small, very professional crush on Kara and the work she does, but she's cool about it. She thinks she's cool about it, at least -- and then her words get stuck in her throat as soon as she walks up to Kara to introduce herself.Especially when Kara turns around, big blue eyes glittering as she smiles at Lena, and asks, "Are you Lena Luthor?"OR,the au where Lena's an investigative journalist that's never managed to land a front page story, Kara's a hotshot National Geographic photographer, and they make a really good team.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for clicking this story, much appreciate, hope you enjoy

"I don't normally make house calls, but I can't sit around and watch talent be wasted."

Kara nods politely. "Sorry, Ms. Grant."

Cat rolls her eyes. "You'll have to stop calling me that, that's my one condition."

Kara digs her nails into her palm to make sure she's not hallucinating. Cat Grant is actually standing in Alex's kitchen, close enough that Kara can smell her expensive perfume and see the flecks of dark brown in her curious hazel eyes. Cat Grant is staring at Kara like this is  _just a routine Friday_ , wearing an all-black Versace suit with matching black shoes and an overly-patient facial expression.

Kara's wearing grey joggers and a stained maroon crewneck and she didn't really sleep last night but, in her defense, she didn't know Cat was coming. She didn't even know anyone knew she was back in National City. So, it's an all around weird experience.

Kara nibbles on her lip. "Um, it's your one condition for what exactly?"

"I'm giving you a job, obviously, Kara. I've waited months for you to come in, and now I'm impatient."

"Oh," Kara pauses, unsure of how to put this politely. "It's just. I'm not looking for a job."

Cat sighs, and it's soft, but very powerful. "That's exactly the problem."

"I haven't done photojournalism in a year," Kara says.

And then Cat's facial expression softens in a way Kara didn't know was possible. Kara knows who Cat Grant is, of course, no one in journalism or photography or -- in the country, actually -- could have a legitimate career not knowing who she is. Everyone knows that CatCo produces the most respected news publication in the nation, if not world, and Cat produces the most respected and reputable journalists. Everyone in their right mind would probably kill for a job there.

If Kara were in her right mind, she'd be ecstatic about this job offer. But, given that she hasn't even considered going back to photography in the past six months (not to mention the six months before that when she struggled to even take a picture), accepting this job is the last thing on her mind when everything inside of her is screaming  _you're not ready for this!!_

"I'm pairing you with one of our journalists," Cat says, after a while. "Lena Luthor. You'll follow her, work with her, and take pictures for her. That's your assignment. If you want to branch out, we'll talk. I expect you on Monday."

And then she leaves, just like that.

 

Later that night -- after Kara's had seven beers, and Alex made lasagna and Grey's had a happy episode -- she's in a happy enough mood to accidentally tell Alex about Cat. 

"I mean, how hard can it be?" Alex says, looping an arm around Kara's waist and pulling them down onto the couch ungracefully. "I feel morally obligated to make you take this job. You need this."

"I don't need  _you_  to make me take anything," Kara says, shaking her head slowly and poking her finger into Alex's thigh. She's the kind of drunk where her face feels numb and the room feels like it's tilting slightly. And she keeps missing her mouth with her beer and just tapping her lip. "I can decide for myself."

Alex tangles her hand in Kara's sweater and tugs at it gently. "There's Cinemax porn in my watch history, and I didn't put it there."

"It wasn't  _me_ ," Kara says, immediately, and then realizes she's the only other person here. Crap, she thinks.  _The Hills Have Thighs_  definitely wasn't worth this awkward drunk conversation with her  _sister_. "Well. Whatever. I figured you pay for it, might as well get your money's worth."

"I'm not judging you for your terrible porn taste," Alex says. "But it seems like you're not skilled enough to use Pornhub yet, and I'd like to intervene before you get there."

Honestly, Kara doesn't even know what that is. Maybe she'll Google it later. "So, this job. Okay, fine. I get it. But it seems more stressful, so not sure how it's supposed to help."

Alex shrugs. "More interaction with people? Maybe you'll get a girlfriend out of it."

Kara frowns. "No, stop. I'm a lone wolf."

Alex giggles against her cheek. "Please, pretty please. Kara, you'll do fine. You're Supergirl, remember? Cat Grant believes in Kara Danvers, and that should mean a hell of a lot to you."

"Fine," Kara says, " _Fine_ ," and lifts her phone to open Instagram. Which is probably a terrible idea, considering she's more drunk than she's been in over a year and she has 247k followers. But, fuck it, Alex is pressing the live button for her and she's almost in a good mood. " _Hiiiiii, Instagram_ , _guess who's employed_?" Kara shouts into the camera.

*

Lena ran away from home when she was sixteen, struggled a bit, managed to get into college  _and_ graduate top of her class, and then one year out she got hired by the world's best publication.

She thinks she's doing just fine, is thing, which is why she's not complaining that she's been at CatCo for two years already, and Cat just handed another probably front page story to someone else and asked Lena to cover a building fire started by a two-year-old. It's fine, really, because she has a feeling Cat pushes the people she believes in the most the hardest.

So, this is to say, Lena kicking the candy machine in the break room should not be misconstrued as repressed anger.

Once she gets her snickers, she heads out to the scene to get the scoop on the fire.

She finds the lead detective, Sam Arias, pretty easily amidst the chaos, and takes some time to chat after she gets all the information she needs. "Yeah, I'm just hoping the bigger story comes soon. I'm doing fine with these, barely even get edits or stories returned. I just need an opportunity."

"You'll get it," Sam says, clapping Lena on the back and keeping a watchful eye on the crews around them. "Word is, that Nat Geo photographer is coming to work for CatCo. She's pretty cool, know her sister a little. ER doctor."

"Mmm," Lena hums. "Yeah I saw, she went live on instagram. Drunk. But I'm guessing she's just enjoying the last minutes of her vacation. I would, too, after all the stories she's been a part of."

"I'm happy she's here, feel like she does great work. Maybe you two can work together."

Lena snorts. "They barely let me cover low-level organized crime, I seriously doubt they'll even let me near Kara Danvers."

*

On Saturday morning, once Alex leaves for work, the first thing Kara does is Google Pornhub. She regrets it immediately.

The second thing she does is look at her old photos.

She really does miss it.

*

Lena knew Kara Danvers was coming to work for the CatCo News Team. Everyone in the building was talking about her, even the police force, apparently. Makes sense, though -- the hotshot National Geographic photographer, who exposed everything from poaching kingpins to ivory hunters to exotic animal traffickers, was coming off a year-long hiatus and settling down in National City.

What Lena didn't realize, however, was that she'd walk into work, see Kara laughing like a complete dork right next to her desk, and.

Her heart would flutter - in both a very literal and very, very cliché way.

Seeing Kara Danvers for the first time is like catching a breath of fresh air she didn't know she needed. Kara's tan, lean and pretty and young, with a jawline that looks like it's chiseled out of stone, biceps that are apparent even through her rolled up sleeves, and hands big enough to dwarf the plastic Starbucks cup she's holding in one.

So, Lena's pretty much hung up on her right from the start. 

And, okay.

Lena's not like a  _fan_ fan or anything, but Kara _did_ work with TRAFFIC to help break the story that brought down Hydra -- the many-headed illegal wildlife criminal syndicate that operated throughout Southeast Asia, Africa and China. And then she didn't even make a big deal out of it -- said, " _all I did was snap photos_ ", respectfully turned down an interview with Cat Grant, and blushed on live Instagram when she saw Cat had branded her _Supergirl_ for all her efforts. 

So, maybe Lena has a very small, very professional crush on Kara and the work she does, but she's cool about it. She thinks she's cool about it, at least -- and then her words get stuck in her throat as soon as she walks up to Kara to introduce herself.

Especially when Kara turns around, big blue eyes glittering as she smiles at Lena, and asks, "Are you Lena Luthor?"

To which, Lena takes entirely too long to respond to, and then has to shake her head to dispel whatever the hell is taking over her. It's most likely shock -- from Kara's record she expected her to be out photographing political rallies already, not hanging around Lena's desk laughing at her cell-phone. "Yeah, sorry, don't think we've ever met before."

"No, I think I'd probably, like. Remember you," Kara says, looking distracted for a moment before she shakes her own head. "Anyway, I'm Kara Danvers and I'm at your service."

"Oh," Lena blurts, then folds her arms to regain some composure, tries not to think inappropriate things about _at your service_. "In what way, exactly?" 

"Cat Grant sent me?" Kara explains, like she's not sure herself. "She said I'm here to be your dedicated photographer."

Which, would be amazing, Lena thinks, but it's - it's _Kara_. She takes down giants with her camera on a monthly basis and Lena spends most of her time chasing fires and small-time crime. She's not exactly worthy of this century's greatest photographer. "Why would you be assigned to me?"

Kara shrugs. "Meszaros, I guess? You're going after the drug kingpin. Big story, lot's of resources needed."

"I'm not?" Lena says, trying to recall if maybe she missed an email. But she's  _Lena_ , she never misses an email. "Sorry, this is just weird."

"I'm not, um. Oh," Kara says, fidgeting like she did something wrong. Which she hasn't, probably just misinformation, but Lena's too busy watching her nervously bite her lip to point that out. "Sorry," she says, after a minute of appearing to be thinking really hard. "I haven't been around people in a while, so I'm terrible at conversation. I just met with Cat, she said grab you at your desk, tell you we're heading out. Which means, I'm probably the one telling you you're on the story."

"Nice," Lena says. "You're very useful when you use your words."

"Thanks," Kara says, smiling, eyes spectacularly bright. Then she finally adds, "Cat just got a tip that there was a bust possibly connected to Meszaros - or his guys at least. Said she wanted you to take it. And, well, I go where you go. That's the deal."

"So, you're  _my_ photographer?"

Kara pinches her lip. "For better or for worse."

Lena laughs, takes a deep breath once she realizes she can't stand here and stare at Kara forever, then grabs a notepad from her desk and heads toward the elevator with her new personal photographer.

*

To be honest, Kara started the day really, really second-guessing her decision to take the job at CatCo. Especially when she saw how many people she had to walk through in the lobby, and when she noticed how claustrophobic she felt in the elevator, and when she realized she knew absolute no one in the building and couldn't find Lena and had to distract her nerves with her phone -- and, basically, when she encountered anything that spiked her new-found anxiety.

But then she saw Lena Luthor for the first time, and was immediately transfixed by her bright green eyes and sharp cheek bones, the way she clenched her jaw and pressed her pouty, pouty lips together, how she appeared calm and confident and slightly predatory. She looked nothing short of breath-taking, is the thing, in her tight black dress and black Doc Martens, and it was a little hard to handle if Kara's being honest.

She didn't know what to expect coming in to this, but she truly wasn't prepared for—

Well, it's nothing, really. It's not a big deal.

It's just that the second Kara saw Lena, her hands instinctively itched for her camera in a way they hadn't done in a really long time now; like for the first time since she'd gotten back to National City, she'd actually wanted to snap a photo.

Not to sound dramatic or anything, but for the past seven months -- ever since Kara came home from attempting to track Adélies in Antarctica -- she hasn't taken a single picture. She hasn't picked her camera up, she hasn't bothered looking for a job, and she definitely hasn't considered the idea of going back into taking tough assignments.

Or, she hadn't.

Then, for whatever reason, when Cat Grant asked her to come work at CatCo, something shifted inside of her. And when Cat told her she wanted Kara to help out Lena Luthor on possibly the biggest story of the year, Kara was almost excited.

Being a photographer was her childhood dream, after all -- ever since her adoptive dad gave her an old camera and ten packs of film just to convince her to leave her room and at least explore the backyard.

She pretty much took to nature instantly when she was younger, liked how calm she felt positioning herself somewhere and waiting for animals to stop by or do something interesting. So, National Geographic was sort of a natural fit for her, and she loved her job, loved doing it, loved being outdoors, was very excellent at it. She was even excited when she switched over to the more dangerous assignments -- like going after the bad guys that did bad things to animals -- loved how rewarding it felt to put a stop to illegal wildlife trade operations.

That is, right up until about a year ago when she was tracking a group that was illegally selling rhino horns -- and she accidentally photographed the guy coming to stab her.

Which was fine, like she didn't actually _die_ , just bled a lot, and it made for some okay shots and a cool story.

But then she tried to take pictures again, and this weird thing happened -- every time she picked her camera up her heart started racing and her hands started shaking and she got weird flashbacks that made the whole thing seem way scarier than maybe she thought it was when it happened in the first place.

Anywho -- Kara's standing next to Lena at the drug bust crime scene and her hands are already shaking, is the point of all this, and it feels like that's going to be detrimental to her job of taking pictures.

 _Ugh_. Kara clears her throat and shakes her head roughly to push the awful feeling she's getting away.

"You okay over there?" Lena asks. 

"Yeah, of course," Kara says. "Just think it's time for my third cup of caffeine."

"No time for that now, should get some shots while we still have all the officers around," Lena says. "We can recreate the bust, maybe? The lead detective, Sam Arias, is over there and I'll get a statement from her. Then maybe we can stage her for a shot? What do you think?"

"Um," Kara says, fiddling with her camera strap. "Small problem. So, I thought maybe I was - well, I don't if I can, you know?"

"If you can what?"

Kara presses her teeth together and pulls her lips back. "Er, well, like. Take pictures. I'm not sure if I can take pictures today."

Lena's big eyes somehow get even bigger. "But. That's your whole job. You're literally a photographer."

"I know, but there's this thing with my hands. They won't stop shaking." Kara lifts her hands to demonstrate and, sure as shit, they're shaking. "See, it's a thing."

Lena looks from hand to hand repeatedly, deeply confused. "Make them stop."

"I think if that was the solution, I would have done it already."

Lena clamps her hands over Kara's suddenly, pressing them together. And, while Lena's hands are the warmest, softest, bestest hands Kara's ever held, her hands are still shakier than -- er, nevermind that was going to be a bad joke.

Kara's heart clenches when Lena's eyes flick between  _confusion_ and  _concern_ and  _fear_ and some other thing. And then Lena looks absolutely serious when she says, "I need  _three_ shots from you. Just three good shots. Get me that."

Then she rubs her thumbs over Kara's knuckles in maybe the most encouraging gesture Kara's ever felt, and then walks away.

*

This morning, when it sank in that Cat Grant was giving Kara Danvers to Lena  _and_  giving her a shot at a story that could potentially lead to taking down a drug kingpin, she thought it was too good to be true.

Lena's always wanted to do tough assignments, the gritty work, always wanted to be a badass, hardcore investigative journalist. So she's been putting in the grind work, doing low level stuff just waiting for her time to come -- and she thought this was it. She thought Kara and her would be out until dark chasing drug dealers and destroying all crime in the city by the end of the week (and maybe, potentially, falling in love and making out or something -- but that was always a long shot and she was aware of that).

Instead, they're in a coffee shop and Kara's hands are still shaking, and Lena wants to be upset, but she can't manage to be frustrated with Kara for some reason. Who, by the way, took a total of eighteen photos and only three of them weren't complete shit, but they were useless anyway because all three were of Lena. So now Lena's just trying her best to calm Kara down, since Kara's big, apologetic eyes are absolutely destroying Lena's heart.

"I like potstickers too," Lena's saying. "I think I like the veggie ones better than the ones with meat."

Kara scrunches up her nose and does something with her mouth that resembles a smile for the first time in the past half-hour. "No way, the veggie ones are a complete rip-off. Maybe you just haven't had the right meat." Lena laughs a little and Kara snorts. "I mean, like, you know what I mean."

Lena folds her arms on top of the table, smiling wider than she wants to be, but she can't help it. It's surprisingly easy to get caught up in talking to Kara. "So, where's the weirdest place you've ever been?"

Kara taps her fingers against her cup, thinking. "Teriberka, maybe. In Russia. Photographed some really creepy ships."

"I've actually been there," Lena says.

"Oh you have?" Kara asks, curious. Her eyes are lighting up again, which is a good sign. "I hadn't even heard of it until I had to go."

"Yep, I'm pretty sure," Lena says. " I don't remember much, since I was a kid, but I definitely have a memory of the ship thing."

"It sticks with you, so eerie. Reminds me of that movie Ghost Ship. The one with the crazy opening."

"Where everyone gets chopped in half? That's so creepy."

" _Right_ ," Kara exclaims, and this time she's  _smiling_ smiling, even has the full-on sparkly eyes, although her hands are still shaking against her cup. Then she says, "Sorry about today, I - um. Believe it or not, I didn't really plan on that happening. Just like, a nervous response."

"It's fine. It seems like you can't control it."

Kara nods. "Yeah, it's difficult trying to get it to stop sometimes." 

"Well, we're going to figure it out," Lena says. "We're partners now."

*

Lena isn't quite sure how they'll figure it out, but her best idea is the Zoo, since Kara used to do wildlife or whatnot, and maybe that's what comes natural to her. The thing is -- Lena needs Kara if she's going to get front page. So she's very personally invested in Kara getting better, and  _maybe_ a bit personally invested in the way Kara's eyes light up as she claps her hands together in front of the flamingos.

"Think you can take a picture?" Lena asks. "Not to kill your mood or anything."

Kara frowns. "Just can't be satisfied with my happiness."

Lena laughs and scrunches her face up. She's only known Kara two days, but it feels like longer and she's holding off on thinking about what that might mean. "It  _is_ important, it's just third in line behind your photography and us  _getting on the front page_."

"I've been front page before, multiple times," Kara says offhandedly, and then makes little click-y sounds at the flamingos before she inhales sharply and turns to Lena. "Sorry, that was rude, I'm sorry. I just meant -- um. It's important to you, I know. So, I'll try. I just haven't been to the Zoo in a while and wanted to enjoy it first."

"I didn't take it rudely," Lena comforts. "Not sure you can be rude."

Kara makes a  _pssht_ noise and throws her head back. "I can be rude if I want, alright? Like, if the situation warrants it."

"I call bullshit," Lena says. "I've already known you enough hours to realize you don't use profanity."

"Okay, but I think it sometimes. A lot. Okay."

Lena nudges Kara's shoulder with her own, and then pulls away fast in case it's too early for contact. Not that like -- she's thinking of contact with Kara, like, physically or anything. That's not professional. "I really do care about you being happy, honest, but we're on a timeline and a break in the story could happen any time."

"Right," Kara says, with her serious voice, fingers dancing along the neck strap of her camera. Then she grabs the sides of the camera, hands already trembling a bit. "It's the weirdest thing," she comments. "And so involuntary, and I can't figure out why it's happening. Like, I'm over that whole incident."

"What whole incident?" Lena asks.

"I was just - " Kara waves her hand in the air. "It's nothing."

"If you can't talk about it, then it's not nothing. And you're definitely not over it. Not to be rude, you know," Lena adds.

"Don't worry, I don't think you can be rude, either." Kara smiles. "Not to me at least, I did see you get a bit snappy with the assistant guy when we got back to CatCo yesterday."

"Sorry, Cat said no pictures, no front page," Lena admits.

"I wouldn't mind if you cheated on me," Kara says. "I mean, I'd be a little sad since Cat says this is the only assignment I get - I do what _you_ do - but I wouldn't mind."

"All other photographers are on other stories."

"So you asked?" Kara asks, and Lena can swear she sounds a bit sad, but Lena --  _ugh._ This isn't fair, Kara can't pull cute, pouty faces that ruin Lena's entire career. "I guess that is fair, even though you didn't have my blessing until  _just now_. Hooligan."

"You're just procrastinating, let's get it over with."

Kara rolls her eyes and says, "Fine," then she fiddles with the camera some more and stares at the ground. "So, I was stabbed like a year ago. And it's fine, I'm fine. I thought I was fine. And apparently there's like a PTSD or trauma response or something. And I can't control it."

"Was it like a mugging? Did -- are you, I mean of course you're fine, um. Is that why you - " It's probably why Kara went on break, maybe. Which means it wasn't a break and that Kara's. Shit, Lena thinks, she feels fucking insensitive and she can't figure out why there wasn't a story on this. Unless Kara wanted to keep it quiet, which is fine, understandable -- she's never liked attention. But, shit. Lena's heart is thumping now. "Sorry to hear that."

Kara chews on her lip and stares Lena in the eyes for longer than a casual amount of time. "It wasn't a mugging, no. Actually captured the guy coming to stab me on camera. I took pictures of my own near-murder."

"That bad?"

"Abdomen, but nothing terrible hit, thank god, just nearly bled to death."

"I get the hands thing, then."

"I barely even remember it, though, is the thing." Kara says, turning away and knocking the front of her shoe against the ground. "I mean I looked at the picture of the guy a thousand times, but in my memory there's like a black hole. I can barely even remember the assignment. Not to make this sad and stuff, like, I'm not sad. Because I don't remember it. My hands just do. And sometimes I get flashes if it's really bad."

Lena shrugs, just trying to stay calm and not exacerbate Kara's panic. Kara seems to be handling it well, so she can handle it well. "I'm not a therapist or anything, but maybe if we just take a ton of pictures, it'll go away on it's own."

Kara smiles. "Alright, that's a plan then."

 

They spend the next few hours snapping pictures, which is harder than it seems since Kara can't just snap a thousand. Not only is there shaking, but then there's a grip issue, and then her hands get fatigued, and overall it doesn't seem to go well -- but for some reason Kara's still smiling at the end of the day.

"Haven't spent the day taking pictures in a long time," she says, waddling like a penguin along the walkway and clutching her camera strap. Then she sucks her lips into her mouth and smiles around it. "Thanks, Lena. I had a lovely time."

"I'm sorry it didn't get better," Lena says, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Yeah, it's totally hash tag not cool, but I had fun anyway, not going to let it ruin a good day."

"Wanna go back to CatCo and eat all the free snacks?"

Kara clutches her hand to her chest and puts on her sparkly eyes. "Woman after my own heart. Let's get out of here."

*

Kara feels like an asshole.

There's no other way to put it -- she took a job working for Lena,  _knowing_ she had her hand thing. And now Lena's going out of her way, taking time away from writing stories, to help Kara get it figured out. And now Kara feels like even more of an ass because it's not something that takes just one day or two. Like, they're on the third day now of taking pictures and Kara can't keep her hands still to capture the Jellys in the aquarium. 

She loves Jellys, too, they're her favorites.

"You're doing great," Lena encourages, when they're in front of the big viewing window of the larger tank, watching manta-rays do barrel rolls. "Honestly, like it's not there yet, but you're doing so much better than the first day we tried."

Kara flexes her worn out fingers and fights the urge to disagree. "I've been thinking, and maybe I should tell Cat - "

"No," Lena says, locking her arm with Kara's, but keeping her eyes straight. Kara's sort of instantly comforted. Lena doesn't touch her much, but when she does -- pats on the back and nudges and shoulder bumps and whatnot -- it makes Kara feel warm inside, like she wants to smile as wide as possible every time, but she doesn't, too afraid she'd scare Lena away or something. "We're going to figure this out. Cat gave you to me because she knows you're the best photographer in the world, and she's expecting us to figure it out."

"You sure?" Kara asks, rocking on her heels and biting her lip to stop her smile. Lena wants to work things out with her, and that's the best thing she's heard all year. "Maybe she thought I was still the best."

"You are, first off. And she was the only one who knew you were in National City, and I'm pretty sure she knew you were stabbed, and probably knew you stopped doing photography. Trust me, she knows everything. So, we just have to assume we're supposed to be doing this."

Kara's not exactly sure what _this_ is, but Lena's holding her arm and they're at the aquarium, and she feels happy, so she doesn't really want to stop either. "Okay, yeah, I think so too. Sorry, it's you know. Taking so long. Wish it'd be over with already."

"Not to dredge up old shit," Lena says. "But you sorta got stabbed."

Kara's laugh revs out of her. "Not to dredge up old  _stuff_ , but I told you days ago I got over that whole thing."

Lena nudges Kara's shoulder with her forehead. "Whatever, let's take more pictures."

*

Lena spends a good part of her night Googling trauma stuff. Then she calls all the experts she knows. It feels a lot like there's not a straight answer for this thing, and it's mostly trial and error. But, fuck if she's not going to try her best to help Kara.

*

"Alright, let's try going back to step one," Lena says. "Let's um. Look, just name one thing you'd feel comfortable taking a picture of right now. Something that'd normally make you pick up your camera. Anything."

Kara nibbles on her lip for a second and looks around. They're in a coffee shop, so not her usual scene for photos. Like, she used to do the food upload thing on instagram sometimes, but was never really a food photographer. Honestly, if she's being honest with herself, the only thing in the past half a year that's made Kara immediately want to grab her camera is -- well, Lena. And since they're running low on luck, and have been at this for five days now, she just goes for broke. "Um. You?"

Lena's breath catches. "Me?"

"I, uh," Kara stutters, putting her hands over her cheeks as if she can stop them from heating up. "I just, I'm a bit intrigued by you, I guess. And I think. I feel. I - honestly, I probably couldn't take a bad picture of you even if I tried, so. Yeah. You. I mean that, um, professionally." 

Lena just blinks at her for a while, long, pretty lashes dusting her cheeks in slow motion. Then she takes a settling breath and says, "Okay, yeah, okay. Where do you want me? What do you want me doing?"

Kara perks up. "At that table, in the middle maybe. I - yeah, it's a good shot, highlights you but frames the coffee shop."

Lena nods and then gets up, mumbles, "I'm going to borrow this," as she takes a woman's coffee, and then she positions herself at the center table in the coffee shop. Kara's inspired, immediately, by the way the light hits Lena's face, by the way her eyes look piercing even though she's just looking off at nothing, by her jawline and cheek bones and her clavicles exposed by the dip in her shirt. She gets the feeling again, from the first time she saw Lena - the urge to grab her camera and take the shot.

But then she also gets the nerves and everything feels a bit too overwhelming. Like, what if this doesn't work, or what if Lena gets offended and thinks she's not good enough. Kara wants her to know she's good enough. "I can't pose forever," Lena says. "Just take the picture and freak out afterwards. I'll feed you food and hold your hands until they stop shaking."

Right. Right. Lena's hands _are_ very warm and _are_  very soft and she  _is_ very comforting, and Kara feels completely safe with her if something goes sideways with her panic-wise. So she picks up her camera and aims it for Lena, and -- her hands shake so hard she nearly drops the entire camera against her chest. Which, honestly, shakes the foundation of her confidence. But she's determined to impress Lena, determined to get this right, determined to -- it's.

The thing getting to Kara the most is that Lena's like this ethereal creature, beautiful enough to be intimidating by just existing, but she's honestly the nicest, most caring person Kara's ever met. And Kara just wants to capture that on camera. Like, Kara wants to take pictures of Lena the way she knows she can, and then print them out and frame them and show the world how amazing Lena is. And she's kind of fucking her whole opportunity to do that right now, because she can't calm her fucking hands down.

Shit. Kara gets so frustrated her mind blanks, and then she sees Lena look over at her like she'd wait an eternity just for Kara to take one good picture, and.

There's a weird calmness that settles over her, which is the best way she knows how to describe it.

Kara lifts her camera, and -- she actually takes the shot. She takes a picture and her hands _are_ shaking, but not as much, definitely not as much. And then she takes another two before they stabilize. And then another one. And then another. And then she gets up and does angles, and she gets the bakery area and she gets a wide-angle of Lena off-centered in the center of the room, and then she  _breathes_.

For the first time in months, she's behind the camera again, really behind the camera, and she breathes. Has to stop herself after a few minutes, because she could just get lost in taking pictures of Lena, like she'd get lost in photographing the sunrise in the Dolomites or elephants dusting each other at sunset.

She's said this before, and she'll say it until she dies -- Lena is absolutely breathtaking.

It's still not perfect, really, like the images could be better she's sure, and her hands were jittery towards the last few shots. But overall she  _did_ it, and she took clear pictures, and it felt like the jitters came more from excitement than anything else.

"These are good," Lena says, thumbing through the camera afterwords, as Kara grips her cup tight like she's afraid her hands will have an after-response. "Didn't even need me to hold your hand."

She sort of wishes Lena would, but she doesn't want to say that, not when Lena saying she doesn't need it feels like  _praise_. "Yeah, it's definitely - that felt nice." It felt new and refreshing and exciting, but at the same time it felt calm and familiar and like where she belonged. It was a good thing. "Think we can do this again tomorrow? If that's okay."

"Yeah," Lena says. "Of course." 

*

Kara's pretty much up to speed after few more days of practice -- which is just in time, since they get two calls in a row about drug-related violence.

The first is another warehouse, but this time there're bodies and a wounded officer. Lena checks in a few times with Kara to see if it's okay for her to shoot. She was doing fine the past couple days, sure, but pictures of Lena and pictures of wounded officers are two different things.

"You can sit it out, if not? But the bus leaves in two minutes. It's just a graze, but they're not sticking around longer."

"Better head over, then," Kara says, already jogging.

And then she gets the picture, and Lena sort of loses track of her as she's flitting around, arranging people and scenes, shaking hands with officers and introducing herself to detectives. She looks like she's in the zone, is the thing, so Lena takes the time to talk to Sam, instead of worrying about Kara.

"Your girl looks like she's doing better," Sam says, then she smiles and nudges Lena. "This is definitely Meszaros' boys, got their signature written all over it. Can't tell you what that is, on the record, but can confirm that at least."

"Right," Lena says, jotting on her notepad. "No witnesses?"

"Not that would come forward."

"Right."

Which is pretty much how it goes, with the next scene being more of the same. The stories don't get Lena front page, since it's a loose thread to Meszaros at best, and they can't write about it as being connected to him until they know it's a sure thing, but these stories are getting Lena close, very close.

And then, like a gift from heaven, she gets a call from Sam that might make her career --

"Hey Lena -- two things. At one of the crime scenes we found drug strains usually found in Valdahano. Which is weird. So I looked into it, and turns out some shit went down in Valdahano about a year ago with their major cartel. I have a guy that's willing to go on record with you about Meszaro's involvement in that. Don't know if I wanna risk bringing him in and getting him killed for something that might not stick. But maybe you can use the paper to stir-up attention from people with more resources."

"Seriously?" Lena asks, phone clutched precariously to her ear as she tries to juggle her notepad and taco. "What's this guy have?"

"He says he was there when Meszaro personally took part in massacring cartel members and civilians in Valdahano. Can provide details that only someone was there would know."

"This sounds - what's the catch?"

"We can't place him there. There isn't even a record of Meszaro leaving the country in the past five years. For all we know, this guy massacred the people himself."

 _Shit,_ Lena thinks.

*

She still tries to sell it to Cat.

"She sent me a guy who'll go on record about Meszaros," Lena explains to Cat, in her office. "Could be enough to stir up a more serious investigation."

Cat taps her fingers on her desk. "What information does he have, exactly?"

"Apparently Meszaros was in Valdahano and personally took out a major drug competitor. And it tracks, about a year ago a drug family fell off the map and it's clear that Meszaros benefited directly from that."

"That may be true, and he may have done it," Cat says, tilting her head from side to side. "But can you place him in Valdahano? If not, it's not good enough to publish with his name attached. Yes, he benefited, but that's reasonable if big competition dies. It doesn't mean he killed them."

Lena can't. She can't place him in Valdahano, and she tried. She's been trying all morning and there's nothing. "I don't have it, I can't place him. I called in favors, and there's nothing there. But you know that can be - "

"I know," Cat says, nodding. "But we don't publish without facts, Lena. I'm sorry."

 _Fuck_ , Lena thinks. "I know, I get it."

Cat stares on for a moment, not saying anything, and Lena runs over game plans in her head.

And then Cat asks, suddenly, "So, how's it going with Kara?"

"Honestly?" Lena asks back, sitting on the edge of her chair. She pauses for a moment, then, scrapes at her palm and takes a second to consider what she wants to say next. "It's going different than I expected, but great."

Cat smiles, in that all-knowing way of hers. "Listen, Lena. I don't say this a lot, but Kara Danvers is really something quite special."

Lena furrows her brows and looks down at her hands. "I know."

"Just stick with her, she'll surprise you," Cat says.

Lena lifts her head. "She already has, weirdly enough. I can't put my finger on it, but. I don't know."

"Sounds like you like a little more than her photography."

Lena's shocked laugh jumps out of her. "No, I - not at all. I just, it's... It's hard to explain, but she's honest in such an earnest way, and I just thought that maybe that didn't exist anymore."

"She sent me an email, by the way, couple days ago. Said she likes working with you."

"Oh?" Lena asks, immediately, and then tries to appear less excited. "I mean, yeah she's - she's nice to work with, keeps me on my toes with her hand thing I guess."

"She talked about that too," Cat says. "Said you handled it remarkably well."

"Yeah, I guess - I used to get panic attacks, so I understand. After the thing with Lex and Lillian, I'd. At night, it was the worst. Living alone felt like torture when I didn't know where they were."

"Why do you think I assigned her to you? For your hard-ass personality? It's fine if you like her."

Lena smiles. "It's only been a few days."

Cat looks off to her right like that's something to consider, but then she says, "Sometimes that's all it takes."

 

"What was that about?" Kara asks once Lena's back at her desk, muffled over the donut in her mouth.

"Nothing, I got a big tip this morning, but it - it doesn't matter. I feel like I'm... I don't know. Maybe front page is too steep of a want."

Kara swallows, audibly. "What was the tip?"

"Meszaros killed people in Valdahano a year ago, but I can't place him there."

"How do we know then?"

"Informant."

"Man, that sucks," Kara comments. "Can't just go off the informant's word?"

"No we need facts to match up with other facts, otherwise it's he said she said." Lena huffs, then takes the rest of Kara's donut out of her hand and bites it. "There's a medaling thing for one of the officers from the drug thing later, though, so we can at least crank out another story."

*

Kara's antsy at the medaling since she's not getting Lena front page, and that's really all she wants for her. So she's really, really trying to produce today.

She wants to get something that -- shit, she's not used to this, not used to. She's just out of practice, but she knows she can get a shot that really sells Lena's writing, knows she can get something that get's Lena on the front page. She just needs a chance to prove that.

Which is exactly the opportunity she gets when shots ring out just as the officer is getting his medal on the giant platform stage.

"Come with me," Lena says, grabbing Kara's arm immediately. But Kara doesn't budge, walks toward the shooting and lifts her camera amidst the chaos. Gets shots of people running, and officers collapsing, and almost gets more, but Lena runs after her and yanks her arm particularly hard. "I swear to god, Kara, move your ass or I'll be pissed at you if you get hurt."

So, Kara turns around, and then she ends up tripping and getting kneed in the face anyway.

 

Which is how they end up in the ER with Alex looking at her busted nose, and Lena  _fuming_ in the corner for some reason. Kara's not sure why, she got  _great_ shots, and her nose isn't even broken, Alex said, just bruised.

"Seems like you're right back in the thick of it," Alex says. "I remember how many times you fell out of the tree in the back yard trying to get the bird nests when we were kids."

"Been equally as dedicated my whole life," Kara says, holding the ice pack to her face.

Lena huffs, loud and obnoxiously. "Or equally as dumb."

"What's your deal?" Kara asks.

"Two weeks ago you couldn't even pick the camera up," Lena snaps. "And now you just want to die."

" _No_ ," Kara corrects, "I just want to get you on the front page."

"I don't care about the front page," Lena says. 

Which, _what_? "It's  _just_ a busted nose," Kara clarifies, looking to Alex to back her up, but Alex is suddenly silent. "Whatever, I know I freaked out at first when we started, but you don't have to treat me like a baby. Trust me, I've handled assignments far worse than this one."

"Yeah, ones you kept repressed and wouldn't talk about."

"You're a dick," Kara says.

"Classy," Lena says.

Then Sam, the Detective, peaks her head behind the hospital curtain. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Nope," Lena says. "Kara was just explaining how pictures are more important than her safety."

"Isn't that the basis of our entire careers?" Sam shrugs. "I've caught you sniffing around shipyards alone before, Lena." She pauses for a moment, then says, "Hey, Alex."

Alex turns. "Hey Sam, busy night?"

"You know how it goes."

Kara looks at Lena questioningly and Lena rolls her eyes. Okay. "How do you two know each other?"

"Detective work has me in the ER a lot. Like now," Sam explains. She looks at Kara. "Saw you taking pictures at the ceremony, think maybe you could have the shooter in any of them?"

"Don't think so, wasn't taking them when it happened, and left pretty soon after."

"Send 'em over, anyway," Sam says, and then heads out of the room.

Alex looks between Lena and Kara, and then heads out herself. "I'll catch you at home later, gonna do a rotation around the ER, see if anyone needs help."

Once she's gone, Kara drops the ice from her nose and says, "I'm sorry, please stop pouting like a giant baby. I was wrong. I should have ran."

Lena sighs, unfolds her arms and lets out a long breath. Then she stands and grabs her jacket. "Let me take you home. Come on."

*

"I'm sorry about snapping before," Lena says, driving Kara home from a crime scene one night. "I just - I know we put our lives on the line for the story, I just. I didn't like seeing it."

"It's fine, it was dumb of me. I got carried away," Kara says.

Lena taps her fingers on the steering wheel. "I'm sorry I made you think front page was that important me, or like that I didn't like the work you were already doing. You're doing great."

"That's not it," Kara says, and then is silent for an awkwardly long time. "I just want this for you."

"If it means anything, I'd - " Lena stops short, she wants to say something sappy, like _im happy just working with you_ or  _im impressed by you everyday, especially for getting through your hand thing_ , but. "I'm just, I want you to know it's not everything to me."

"I know," Kara says, and then she lingers in the car once they're sitting outside her apartment building. "You want to come in, have a drink? Tonight was pretty um. A drink would be nice."

"Yeah, if Alex doesn't mind, that sounds good to me."

"Alex is doing a night shift," Kara says. "Would be lucky if she was in before eight in the morning." Then they get out of the car and Kara leads them up the stairs and into the apartment. She takes them two beers from the fridge, then she sighs heavily once they're seated on the couch. "Been thinking about getting my own place, a lot more since I've been photographing again. But I keep worrying about, like - "

"Being alone?" Lena asks. "It's scary thinking about it, right?"

Kara nods. "You get it?"

Lena nods. "Family stuff." Then she takes a sip of her beer. "You could get a dog."

Kara laughs. "Alex says I can get a girlfriend."

Lena nearly chokes on her beer. "Yeah, you'd be... you're interested in that?"

"I don't know," Kara shrugs. "I'm not like, opposed. But I think she mostly said it because I DVR'd  _The Hills Have Thighs_ , and now she's convinced I have a porn addiction."

Lena laughs, loud, louder than she intends to. "Oh god, don't tell me you're into Cinemax porn."

"I'm  _not_ ," Kara says, already giggly and they're only half a beer in. Light-weight. "I thought it was the horror movie, honestly. I think my mind just did that thing where it automatically replaced the last word."

"Right, I totally believe you," Lena deadpans.

"Shut it," Kara says, and leans against Lena's arm. "Wanna see my picture collection?"

"Practicing your porn lines?"

Kara's laugh gushes out of her. "Fine, I take it back."

"Wait, no," Lena says. "I wanna see. I like your pictures, please."

"Okay, okay," Kara says, and then drags her into one of the bedrooms. "This is where the magic happens," she says, gesturing. "And I mean my photo-editing."

"Not your porn addiction, then?"

"I knew it was a mistake confiding in you, Lena Luthor. That's a sensitive subject."

"All I know is I better see spirit bears on your screen in the next minute, or I'm telling the whole news department about  _The Hills Have Thighs_."

Kara smiles mischievously and drums her fingers against her lips. "How do you know I have spirit bears, Lena?"

"Because I Googled you, Kara. I'm a reporter, I do my research." And then, because Lena had a beer and she wants to pretend she's tipsy so she can be flirty, she giggles a little, and sits in Kara's lap when Kara sits in her desk chair. Kara doesn't say anything about it. "Where are the bears, pull them up."

Kara  _does_ , she shows Lena the bears, and these funky little birds called Hoatzins that look like they have mohawks, and she charms the pants off Lena with all her knowledge about everything. And she even pulls up the creepy ghost ships and and videos she has from underwater diving, and by the time Lena's spent an hour on Kara's lap, she's completely smitten.

Which is probably why, when she stands up to stretch and Kara stands with her -- she leans in and kisses Kara right on the lips. Then, unfortunately, Kara freezes -- like, actually stops moving.

Lena feels... she panics a little bit, and doesn't know what to feel. She maybe shouldn't have done that. "Sorry about that," she whispers, wants to blame the beer, but that somehow feels like unfairly dismissing her actions. So, she says, "Sorry," again and, "I should get going, write some stuff up."

And when Kara doesn't respond for a long, long time, she points at the door and says, "I can show myself out," then she grabs the camera off Kara's desk (which she hopes is the right one, because there's another next to it that looks the same, but shit). Then she turns and leaves the apartment.

Kara doesn't follow her, either. She knows because she waits outside the apartment door for twenty minutes, worried that maybe she shouldn't have left.

*

The camera won't turn on when Lena gets back to her apartment, so she takes the SD card out and pops it in her laptop, notices there're 839 pictures on there, and starts from the beginning and makes her way forward. She hadn't realized Kara had taken so many pictures while they were together, but then she notices these are pictures of animals.

Which, Lena doesn't mind looking at those either.

She's mesmerized by everything she sees, from a complete series of photos of tall trees, to the thousands of butterflies Kara photographed covering random forest trees, to the series of insects she photographed on branches. It goes on and on and on, and somehow never gets old because everything is so beautiful.

Lena's three hours in and three-fourths of the way through the pictures, happy and humming to herself, when she starts clicking through pictures of people. At first it doesn't stand out to her, she's mostly admiring how great all the shots are, how Kara can capture a subject in a way that Lena would never think to look at it, how she misses Kara and wishes she didn't kiss her and make everything awkward between them. How she hopes Kara will forgive her and know she's happy to be just friends. 

And then Lena's heart stops dead in her chest.

Because, right there on her screen, image number 642/839 - is a a guy with a knife, clearly looking at the camera. The next picture is the same, but he's closer, and then another, and then another, and then eventually he's right in front of the camera, and  _jesus christ._

Lena's heart is thudding loud enough to be echoing through her ears.

She slams her laptop shut and cups her hands around her mouth. Then she breathes for a minute and opens her laptop back up and transfers every knife image to her hard drive, and that's when she notices something. In the pictures before the knife image.

Then she spends the next eighteen hours staring at the pictures, before she phones Kara about taking the wrong camera.

"I removed the stabby pictures," Lena says, once Kara's sitting across from her in her office. 

Kara just blinks up at her. "You deleted them?"

"No, I - no, Kara, I'd never do that. That's not my place. But, I did put them on my laptop, and backed them up in my cloud, in case you didn't want to see them anymore."

"It's not that," Kara says, thumbing the side of her camera. "It's never been that. It's - I just. I tried to go to Antarctica, you know? I thought it'd make it better. The Adélies and the baby Gentoos, even the ice cap research and the cold, cold weather. But there I was, watching these really cute, clumsy birds, and I couldn't—" Kara stops sharp for a few seconds before she continues - "I don't know, I just couldn't function anymore. And I knew it had to do with that, but it wasn't connecting. I'm fine, though, like really."

"Good, good. I know, I just thought. You don't need those, you know?" Kara nods, and Lena presses on. She needs to get this out right now might explode if she doesn't. "I looked through the other pictures, though, and you won't believe it." She flips her computer screen around and zooms in.

Kara's mouth drops. "Meszaros with the poachers? That's in there? I don't even remember him, _that_."

"There are tons of pictures," Lena says. "You were following them, you were following  _him_. He probably ordered the - uh. This is great."

"We still can't prove he was in Valdahano, though. This is a whole new case. I was in Meslarma."

Lena leans forward on her hands. "Do you know how far Valdahano is from Meslarma?"

"No," Kara admits.

"It's a twenty-minute drive," Lena says.

"Holy shit," Kara says. "We got him."

"No, _you_ got him," Lena says. "What are the details? What all do you know about them? He's obviously deeply involved in illegal wildlife stuff too."

So Kara explains it. She explains it all, everything she knows, everything she can remember. Looks up all the documents she kept on it in her  _Cloud_ and sends them to Lena. And then Lena swats her away so she can write the article.

*

Kara doesn't hear from Lena for a couple days, so she assumes she's like, deep in the story or something. Which is fine, gives her time to relax, hang with Alex, relax some more, get so bored she gets fidgety. But then she's on the floor early one morning, sorting through her camera equipment, when Lena texts her -  _for you_ \- with a link attached.

And when Kara opens the link, she sees it's an article about Meszaros. 

It's a long article, penned by _Lena Luthor,_ and Kara's pretty sure she takes maybe one full breath the entire time she's reading it. There's... there's  _everything_. It talks about the drugs and extent of his corruption and the illegal wildlife trading, in more detail than Kara knew was possible to get, definitely more than she gave Lena a few nights ago. Like, this article feels so well-freaking researched. It talks about the leaders of other drug groups associated and the politicians involved and, honestly, a lot of stuff Kara didn't even know Lena knew or was looking into.

Then there's a bunch of Kara's images, pulling in the busts they just did, and apparently the shooting at the medaling was involved, and also the photos from Meslarma. And it's all on a front page article in the nation's most respected publication.

Kara doesn't have very good words for what she's feeling right now, but it's like.

She just wants to print the entire article out and hang it all over her walls. She wants to tattoo it on her skin, imprint it in her brain, iron it onto all her clothes so she can wear it with her for the rest of her life. She loves every single word of it, and she feels so thoroughly happy now, that it's getting a bit hard to breathe.  _This_ is what she wanted for Lena, it's like she can't even contain how proud she is.

Shit.

She's at Lena's apartment before she registers that she even stood up off the floor in her room.  

"So," she says, as soon as Lena opens the door. "This is amazing." 

Lena looks at her for exactly three seconds and then she nods and says, "Thank you. Come in, I baked sweet buns."

"Oh," Kara says. "I - uh, that sounds good."

Then she goes inside.

*

They've been standing at the counter for two-minutes, and Kara's shoving three sweet buns in her mouth with her giant bear paws, when Lena says, "Did you not want me to kiss you? Just to be clear." Kara's eyes get wide, and she chews faster so Lena huffs, "Stop, before you choke. Take your time, I can wait."

So she waits.

"I'm just dumb," Kara says, once she's done chewing, and then she gets her hands on Lena's waist and walks her back until she's pressed against the counter and Kara's pressed to her front. Then she leans in and pauses right in front of Lena's mouth to ask, "Do you not want me to kiss you?"

"I hate you," Lena laughs.

Kara kisses her.

 

They spend all day in Lena's apartment, chatting and hanging out and kissing until their lips are red and processing everything and eating and eating again and eating everything they can find - until it's late and Lena asks, "Want drinks? I'll invite Sam. You can invite your sister. Let's make it a thing, could use the company after all that."

Kara nods. "That sounds like it could be fun."

* 

Kara hasn't drank this much since - well, that time a few weeks ago. But she feels happier than she's felt for the entirety of the past year, and that sure as hell is something worth celebrating, even if that involves her talking non-stop at the bar -

"So I'm standing there, completely drenched, staring down the barrel of my 70-300 after six hours of tracking her. And then I fall off the cliff of the waterfall just as she takes flight."

"Kara Danvers, oh my God, you did not."

Kara pinches her bottom lip and smiles around her fingers. "I  _did_ , it's how I got this scar on my arm, no joke."

She grabs her elbow and twists her arm to show the scar off, and Lena's eyes light up as she stares at it, like it's the most fascinating thing in the world. 

"Didn't know working for Nat Geo was always so dangerous," she says, sitting up straighter to get a better look at Kara's arm. She's drunk just as much as Kara, but she seems to be handling it infinitely better. "You should get a medal for surviving as long as you did."

"It's  _true_ ," Kara says, leaning forward in her chair so she's slightly closer. "With all the occupational hazards, I'm somewhat of a war hero."

Alex throws her head back and laughs at that, and it's so contagious that Kara can't help joining in and then Lena does too, casually dropping her hand over Kara's and squeezing it playfully. Even Sam joins in and now they're almost loud enough to maybe get kicked out of this bar. Kara isn't usually the life of the party, but she's had drinks drinks and more drinks and somehow, miraculously, all of her jokes are landing.

So, of course, she's soaking up the attention. Like, this  _never_  happens.

"She's not a _hero_ ," Alex says, slipping her arm over Kara's shoulders and pulling her in. Lena's grip on her hand tightens as she's moved, Kara notes mentally. "She actually broke her arm and then waited three days before she told anyone,  _all_  so she could go back and get the picture of the dumb bird - "

" _Hey_ ," Kara shouts, nudging her shoulder against Alex's chest. "That  _dumb bird_  is our national animal, so maybe you should be more appreciative of that."

She goes to take a sip of her beer, just as Alex says, "The photo wasn't even that good," and Kara nearly - no, she  _actually_  snorts her drink up her nose.

"Take that back," Kara grunts, unattractively, trying not to drown herself or snot all over the table. Lena starts running her fingers over Kara's knuckles in a way that feels more concerned than her face is letting on. "That is my life's greatest achievement, and I  _will_  take you out over it."

Alex bops her on the nose and says really loud, "I hope your FBI agent is listening through your FaceTime."

And then Kara drops her head and laughs into her mug of beer, Alex laughs against her shoulder, and Lena's eyes are absolutely twinkling as she watches Kara and Alex make fools of themselves. Everything is going surprisingly well for Kara, and it's like - she hasn't felt this free in a while. 

"So you did end up getting the shot?" Lena asks.

"Course I did," Kara beams, slipping out of Alex's grip to fish her phone out of her pocket. She flicks through her Photos App and pulls it up, turning the phone to face Lena. "Just as she was taking off, swear she paused to pose for me. Beautiful, right?"

"Don't answer that," Alex advises. "You'll only create a monster."

"Got me my first photographer of the year," Kara says, feeling her smile stretch out her cheeks. 

"Kara, that's amazing," Lena says, and her eyes are wide and she's smiling with her whole face and.

It feels like time stops.

It's just, Lena's voice is so lovely, and she sounds so genuine, and for a second Kara gets lost in it, loses the rhythm of the conversation and drowns out everything that isn't Lena. "Really, you think so?"

Lena tilts her head and laughs a bit, smiling with her eyes even when her lips are pressed together. "I'm more impressed by you each second."

"Oh," Kara blushes, and then becomes acutely aware that everyone is staring at her at the worst possible time. "Well, I aim to please."

"Oookay," Kara hears Alex say, very loudly, right next to her ear. Then she slaps Kara's shoulder firmly, but not too hard, almost encouraging like. "Looks like we're all out or running close to empty. Sam and I are gonna get us new rounds. Be right back."

She gets up quick enough to squish Kara on her way out, grabs Sam's hand in a hurry, and then makes sure to ruffle Kara's hair before she heads toward the bar.

Then it's just Kara and Lena.

Kara lets go of Lena's hand right away, but just long enough for her to get up and join her on the other side of the booth. Then she presses their shoulders together and tangles their fingers, leans in close to ask, "Is it true that you have a thing for me? Alex said Sam said so."

Lena giggles, her beer-drunk cheeks pink and her eyelashes fluttering at Kara. "Alex said that Sam said so? That information is like twice removed."

Kara frowns. "You're right, that's why I'm going to the source myself."

"Practicing those investigative skills for CatCo?"

"Avoiding my question?" 

"No," Lena says, shifting in her seat so she's full-on facing Kara. "Only guilty people do that."

She's biting her full lip and her eyes are sparkling, narrowed from how hard she's smiling. She's completely irresistible. So Kara leans in, pressing her nose to Lena's cheek. "I'm sorry, I just want to be kissing you again."

"Why are you sorry," Lena asks, and then she turns so their mouths are pressed together.

Kara doesn't really know what to do, so she parts her lips slightly. Then Lena catches her bottom lip between her own, and Kara accidentally makes an excited little noise. But it's whatever, Lena's  _into her_. And they're probably like, girlfriends at this point. She's so into how soft and amazing Lena's lips are. So happy.

The hairs on her neck feel like they're raising, like she's hyperaware of everything around her now. How it smells like outside air and beer and musk in this bar. How loud the music is and how chaotic their surroundings are. How Lena's soft, soft hands are slipping beneath Kara's shirt to grip her waist. How Lena smells like the perfect mix between fresh linen and grapefruit. She's so warm and inviting, and Kara's heart clenches a little just thinking about the fact that they're, like -  _what the hell are they even doing?_

Which is exactly what Alex asks, since she's back at the table with two mugs of beer in hand. "Seriously, is this a kiss? Is this some new weird thing I'm not privy on yet?"

"No one says privy," Sam says, sitting in the booth opposite them with two mugs of her own. Kara pulls herself away from being pressed to Lena's face, not even the slightest bit embarrassed, but a bit excited about more beer. "So are you two together yet, or do Alex and I have to keep hearing you lush over each other?"

"No one says lush," Lena says.

Kara leans forward and grabs a beer. "I think we're a thing," she says, after a long sip. She is  _drunk_. "It feels like we're a thing. We kissed a lot today. It was nice."

"You're very cute," Lena says, hand hot on Kara's thigh. "And you've had way too much to drink. Come on, we're stopping now."

Reluctantly, Kara hands her beer to Lena. Then she leans her head against her shoulder and whispers, "Can you text me, in case I forget, and remind me I'm asking you on a date tomorrow."

Lena says, "Of course," and lifts her hand to pat Kara's head.

And then Kara's pretty sure she dozes off. Or someone carries her to the car. Or something. Whatever, Lena's into her. Definitely.

She's the happiest person alive.

*

 **+** **Some** **Time Later**

Lena likes having a hot photographer girlfriend, especially one that moves into her apartment and decorates her walls with pretty, pretty photos that have all won awards and make Lena look super cultured. But she especially likes having a Disney Princess girlfriend, that she can always get with a good joke, and always get a good laugh out of it.

Which is what she's up to when she joins Kara at the central island in the kitchen and says, "So, I've been doing some photography lately. Just a little bit, and just with my iPhone. But I figured since you're the expert - "

Kara interrupts her with grabby hands. "Give me, I wanna see."

"It's okay if you criticize, but maybe not too much," Lena says, digging her phone out of her pocket. "I'm just toying with idea of getting into it, so I don't really. You know, if it's too negative I might be scared away."

"Babe, I love you," Kara says quickly. "I'd never be mean to you, you know that."

Lena  _does_ know that, she's just being a shitter, because this is going to be hilarious. She pulls the photo up on her phone, then she hands it across the counter to Kara. Then she promptly watches Kara's cheeks bypass blush pink straight to being candy apple red.

"Babe," Kara says, and then just leaves her mouth hanging open like she can't think of anything else. It takes her a minute, but she finally pulls her eyes away and says, "This is a nude. This is a nude of you."

"For your porn addiction," Lena explains.

Kara drops the phone on the counter, giggling even though her cheeks are somehow getting  _more_ red. "Why, Lena? Why are you like this?"

Lena laughs. "I'm sorry, I can't help it, ever since you told me you were a virgin - "

" _Lena_!" Kara yells. "That was two months ago, and I'm not anymore, why's it still a joke? Why is it?"

"Look at your face, babe," Lena says, walking around the counter to loop her arms around Kara's waist and kissing Kara's red, red cheeks and her red, red lips. "You just make it so funny."

"Whatever," Kara says, leaning in and pressing three kisses to Lena's lips. "I'm gonna get you one day, and you won't even see it coming. And I'm keeping your nudes, no take backs."

It's been a few months since their story broke, and since then they've gotten more front pages than Kara can count (as evidenced by her consistently getting the number wrong whenever they go out for dinner), and Lena couldn't feel luckier.


	2. Epilogue

 

**\+ Four Years Later**

Kara Danvers' life is sort of perfect. It was just five years ago that she was nearly murdered doing the thing she loved the most, and just four years ago that the love of her life pulled her out of a slump of depression and self-doubt and low-motivation (and maybe Cat Grant helped a little bit with that, but it was mostly Lena). And it was just one year ago that she finally won a Pulitzer alongside Lena and announced that she was officially retiring from crime-reporting and hard-hitting photojournalism.

Instead, she got a job working for an animal magazine in National City and gets to visit Zoos and Aquariums and farms and any place there're animals to take pictures and do educational articles. She even does talks for kids and schools, brings all her old photos and informs them about the different animals in different places of the world.

She likes her new job, sort of like a leaf in the wind, going wherever the animals take her. Like today, for example, she's crouched on the floor of an animal shelter photographing three St. Bernards with her 100-400mm.

"Their story is amazing," the manager of the shelter is telling her. "They're sisters born in the same litter, escaped after they got left behind during a storm and travelled as a group to safety.

"How long have they been here?" Kara asks, snapping a shot as two of them wrestle over a giant rope. She's pretty sure she's seen bears smaller than these dogs and she's in love with every inch of them. "Seems like someone would just swoop them right up, how cute they are."

"People have tried," the manager says, "But they react very negatively to being separated."

"Why doesn't someone just adopt all three?" Kara asks.

The manager actually laughs at that. "I don't know too many people willing to adopt three very large dogs at the same time."

Kara lowers her camera for a moment and considers that.

*****

Lena Luthor has got it all. She's the new editor-in-chief of the CatCo news publication, and she has two Pulitzer Prizes, three children's charities, and as of a year ago, one extremely adorable wife. Considering where she started and how much shit she had to put up with as a teenager, she'd say she turned out pretty damn accomplished and well-rounded.

So she's somewhat convinced her life can't possibly get any better --

And then she gets home early after a two week trip and finds Kara cuddled on the condo floor with three of the fluffiest, largest dogs she's ever seen in her life.

She's so shocked, she's only half-way through the door when she exclaims, "Oh my god, Kara, what are _those_?"

The second Kara hears her, she gasps loud and dramatic, and then hurries to shield the dogs with her body. Which is completely ineffective, since she's maybe half the size of one of them. "You weren't supposed to find out this way," Kara says, shocked (or fake shocked, sometimes Lena really can't tell if Kara's joking or not). "We had an entire unveiling planned."

Lena keeps as straight of a face as possible when she says, "I could just go back to the airport."

"No, no we can improvise. Go ahead and ask me  _why_."

Truthfully, Lena doesn't care about the why. She's only been home for thirty seconds, but she's already convinced adopting three bear-sized dogs is an excellent decision, judging by the smile on Kara's face. "You sure you're ready to explain?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Fine," Lena says, and can't help laughing. "Kara, why are there three very large dogs in our condo?"

"So, I was thinking," Kara starts, climbing off her knees to walk closer to Lena and sit on the arm of the sofa. Lena drops her bags and walks forward so she's right in front of Kara. "Well, I had a lot of free time when you left for your talk, and I had this idea that maybe we could get a dog. Like, wouldn't you want three fun-loving, stress-reducing, fluff buckets that love you unconditionally always hanging around the house?"

Lena reaches over and ruffles Kara's fluffy hair. "I already have one of those."

Kara blushes bright red and rubs her hand over her face. "Please stop, Lena. I didn't plan for that comment in my argument, and it's throwing me off."

"I'm very sorry," Lena says, biting back her smile. "Please continue."

"Anyway," Kara huffs, playfully rolling her eyes. "They're triplets and they travelled here together and don't like being separated. And, until today, no one was willing to adopt all three."

"You find them at the shelter you were shooting at?"

"Yes," Kara says, softly.

Lena sighs, genuinely, since it's cute that Kara adopted dogs, but her fear with Kara's new job all along was that she'd randomly get attached to every animal she photographed and want to bring them home. "Okay, but this doesn't become a habit. It's just the three. That's it."

"That's it," Kara agrees, and then smiles as bright as sunshine. "Let's introduce you then? The shelter said they named them Alice, Mirah, and Corndog, but that I could rename them if I want. I was thinking Lena, Alex, and Sam. Since you're the people I like the most."

Lena is zero-percent sure on whether or not Kara is joking, but just to be on the safe side she says, "I think I like the names they already have. Plus, they're probably used to them already."

"Hmm," Kara hums, face serious like she's considering that. She was absolutely not joking, and Lena doesn't know what to do with that realization. "Yeah, you're right. They're already adjusting to the new home and environment, no need to call them different names as well. Might be too much at once."

*

The dogs are an instant success on Instagram.

Literally, in just over two weeks, Kara doubles the amount of followers she has  _and_  manages to land an interview with the Dodo about their journey. She has loads of fun being filmed playing with dogs, and explains how they travelled a long way all by themselves. She goes over their days together, talks about what they eat and visiting the park, and photographing them and how happy she is now that she has them in her life.

All-in-all it's a good day of fun and filming, and she's happy once the video is posted.

Then, for some reason, it goes crazy viral and every news outlet and entertainment source picks up the story on " _the former "gritty" photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner that dropped her career as a Senior Photographer at CatCo to tell stories to children and chase her dogs in the park all day._

 _Truly, America has lost one of it's greatest journalists --_ "

Kara gasps and nearly fumbles her phone out of her hand into the pan of eggs she's stirring. Right there, in black and white, is a think-piece in the Huffington Post about Kara being too young to retire and how unfortunate it is that she gave up her career to waste her talent doing something as meaningless as  _love her dogs_.

Which, okay, that is very rude and extremely inconsiderate.

The thing is, sure, she loved doing photojournalism -- back when she was with Nat Geo, and definitely, definitely back when she was side by side with Lena, staying up late at night putting information together and tracking sources and grinding their way to the height of Lena's career and Kara's life (and, most importantly, falling more and more in love every second along the way).

But she doesn't miss it. Maybe she's crazy, but she was never in this for the accolades, she's always been in this because the one place she's always felt confident and comfortable was behind the camera. The fact that she was able to stop bad guys, and help good people, and find her wife along the way were just bonuses on top of her doing the thing she loves to do. And now that she has her fluffy girls and her incredibly uplifting, non-dangerous, very happy job -- she's on top of the world.

So the Huffington Post can take that article and shove it up its butt, because Kara is right where she wants to be, doing the thing she wants to be doing.

" _Babe_ ," Kara exclaims, and Lena looks up from her tablet. "They're writing mean articles about me and the dogs."

"Huffington Post?" Lena asks, calmly, which makes Kara feel weird about the fact that she's actually frowning. "I've already assigned someone to write a piece addressing that one. Trust me, it'll be taken down by late afternoon at the latest, and you'll be issued an apology."

Kara smiles and goes back to her eggs. "This is why I'm in love with you."

* 

Lena's at work when she gets a text from Kara that's just,  _))))8_

So, she immediately texts back,  _what's wrong? is it an emergency? do i need to come home?_

Kara texts,  _corndog threw up three times today, don't know what to do_

Lena's home within the next fifteen minutes, and finds Kara on the floor frowning fiercely and cuddling with all three dogs as if they'll all disintegrate at any moment. So she has to practically drag Kara and Corndog to the car, and then she has to keep petting them both in the waiting room of the clinic.

The worst part is when the vet says she wants to keep Corndog overnight.

It's nearly impossible to pull Kara out of the clinic, and once they're home, it's even more impossible to get her to sit still or stop pacing or stop having that wide-eyed-I-might-cry-at-any-moment look on her face. 

Lena lets it go on for a bit, since Kara's not responding to talking, and the pacing seems to be letting out some kind of nervous energy. But  _then_  she sees Kara's hands shaking as she twists them together and her heart absolutely sinks out of her body. It hits her so hard, that she doesn't even register that she's leaping off the couch so she can pull Kara on the floor and sit in her lap.

Then she drags her hands up Kara's shoulder, cradles her head and tangles her fingers in Kara's hair in the way that Kara loves, so she can tell her, "It's going to be okay. She's young and she's healthy, and the vet is probably just taking extra precautions."

A minute passes before Kara says, "Okay," and then she pulls Lena into a tight hug.

 

They spend the rest of the night cuddling, them and the dogs, mostly in silence -- and then they find out in the morning that Corndog most likely ate something bad out of the trashcan or at the park or at any of the places she eats things she's not supposed to eat.

And all she needs is some antibiotics.

Kara's so happy she sings at the top of her lungs for the entire ride home, and Corndog howls along with her.

Lena's just happy that all of her girls are okay.

*

Kara Danvers has a perfect life. She has her camera, she has her three baby girls, and she has Lena.

And that's all she really needs.

She'll always remember her time with Nat Geo and with CatCo, and she'll always answer the phone when Cat Grant calls or be there if Lena really needs her, but she's happy where she is -- bringing joy to people with her photography, and hanging out with her family.

*

Lena Luthor has got it all. She has Kara, she has the best job she could ever ask for, and she has the three bears that her wife adopted on a whim.

And, even though the dogs ate her favorite shoes, and bit a hole in the arm of the couch, and sometimes they leave horse poop on the kitchen floor, and sometimes they eat her toast while it's still in her hand and --

Sometimes, like right now, they decide it's a good idea to settle on her back while her face is still between Kara's legs -- Lena couldn't be happier.

And she couldn't possibly wish for more (except, maybe, children).

 

 **End**  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (((8 thanks for all the feedback, it really means a lot 
> 
> tumblr: [here](https://valkyrieskwad.tumblr.com/)


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